REPAIRING THE DAMAGE

Ten-year-old Serena Basdeo just wants to move back to her room at Southgate Gardens.

Since Hurricane Wilma blew Serena and her mother out of their two-bedroom condo a year ago, the Tamarac Elementary fifth-grader has looked forward to the day repairs would be completed.

But on Saturday, her hope of returning dimmed as she watched her bedroom become a storage area for clothes, paintings and furniture. Gradually, her family's belongings filled her closet, then started blocking the walls, obscuring the neon, glow-in-the-dark stars and half-moons she used to look at before falling asleep.

"Sometimes, I cry myself to sleep," said Serena, who lives in a FEMA trailer bunk while Southgate is renovated. "I really want to move back in."

Southgate residents hectically removed belongings by the Saturday deadline imposed by Phoenix Management Services so that contractors can repair the 108-unit complex. More than 35 owners, renters and their friends rushed to empty the apartments. As rain beat down on them, they stuffed boxes into car trunks and refrigerators into minivans. Others piled their belongings into intact rooms, hoping that vandals and burglars won't break in.

Julio Ortiz, 38, said that with his money going to mortgage payments, maintenance fees, rent for a room and gas, he cannot afford the $150 or more monthly cost to store beds, couches and appliances in a warehouse.

"Right now, I'm backed up," Ortiz said as he took down framed photos from the walls. "I'm barely able to make it." He is afraid he will lose his home.

As frustrating as the liens, government help and loss of furniture, is the separation of families and good neighbors caused by the repair delays. Emotions that took a back seat to the move came forward on Saturday.

"This is a horrible nightmare," said Suzanne Dotson, 33, a mother of two who sent her older son to live with relatives in Arkansas. The rest of the family is living with an aunt in Broward.

"I cry all the time," Dotson said. "You want your home, your family around you, to go on with your life. But you can't."

Krystal Petrone, 15, wept twice as she relayed the frustration. Her home is gutted, and among the steel and wood beams the only evidence of her occupancy were the electrical outlets and power switch that she painted purple before the storm.

"It's pretty pathetic that we're not home yet," said the Taravella High School 10th-grader as tears began streaming past the maroon-framed glasses she wore.

What gets to Krystal's mom, Holly, is that there is no telling when her daughter will get to enjoy her own room again.

They don't know if Krystal and friend Serena will ever take up their old routines again: walking their pooches together, going to sleepovers and riding bicycles with other children in Southgate.

Macollvie Jean-Franois may be reached at mjfrancois@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4694.